Nevada Gay Marriage Appeal Put On Fast-Track

By
Carlos Santoscoy
Published:
February 13, 2014

An appeal to a ruling upholding
Nevada's ban on gay marriage will be expedited, the 9th
Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco announced Wednesday.

The announcement comes two days after
Nevada filed a motion to withdraw its support for the state's ban on
such unions.

The court on Wednesday granted Nevada's
motion filed by Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto and agreed to
expedite the case.

In her motion, Masto said that the
state's legal arguments “grounded upon equal protection and due
process are no longer sustainable” in light of a recent
determination by the court. Republican Governor Brian Sandoval said
that he agreed with Masto's determination.

In that case, handed down earlier this
month, the court found it unconstitutional to exclude jurors based on
sexual orientation.

Writing for the 3-member panel, Judge
Stephen Reinhardt said: “Windsor requires that when state
action discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation, we must
examine its actual purposes and carefully consider the resulting
inequality to ensure that our most fundamental institutions neither
send nor reinforce messages of stigma or second-class status. In
short, Windsor requires heightened scrutiny.”